Ideological Perspectives of Population-Specific Policy Response
I’m stuck on a Social Science question and need an explanation.
Respond to at least two colleagues by explaining how the policies your colleagues described might relate to the population you selected.
Support your response with specific references to the resources. Be sure to provide full APA citations for your references.
Colleague 1: Ieshia
The population I chose are our Veterans. This population has dedicated their lives to serving our US military. They are no longer active members and are out of the military. This population was neglected for many years after the Vietnam war. Many are still homeless battling depression and suicide ideations. State and Federal government have been passing laws to help the ones who sacrificed their life for our safety. The first federal policy is the Veterans choice program. This program was implemented to allow Veterans to receive medical care in the community (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2016). With this new temporary program Veterans can seek treatment outside of the VA. Many use this to get a second opinion on certain health concerns. The second Federal policy is benefits for service-disabled veterans. This policy allows Veterans with service-connected injuries to receive benefits (Analyst in Disability, 2017). Service- Connected injuries are injuries that occurred while serving the United States Military. They are compensated monthly with a disability check based off ratings. The third policy is the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act. This act “increase access and lower wait times for veterans who seek care at VA facilities” (Panangala, Carey, Dortch, & Heisler, 2015, p.1). This act made it easier for Veterans to seek treatment at VA facilities close to them.
South Carolina passed state laws to help improve Veteran’s lives. The first policy is the South Carolina Education Assistance program. This program provides free tuition for the children of Veterans in certain wars. The last state policy is the State Employee Veterans Hiring preference. This policy grants employment to Veterans who qualify (My Army Benefits, 2020). Every policy implemented was created to give Veterans a fresh start at civilian life. I work for the VA Hospital, so I see first hand just how beneficial these policies are to each and every one of them. Even though some Veterans do fall between the cracks Federal and State have been working to change the way Veterans live.
Reference
Department of Veterans Affairs, (2016). Veterans Choice Program, Leadership Toolkit for VA
Facilities, p. 16.
Analyst in Disability Policy, (2017). Benefits of Service-Disabled Veterans, Congressional
Research Service. www.crs.gov/R44837
Panangala, S. V, Carey, M. P, Dortch, C., Heisler, E.J. (2015). Veterans Access, Choice, and
Accountability Act of 2014. Congressional Research Service. www.crs.gov/R43704
My Army Benefits. The U.S. Army official benefits website (2020).
www.myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/benefits
Colleague 2: Jontaya
The population that interests me the most is growing at an alarming rate and consist of vulnerable, neglected, and/or abused children in the foster care system. These children need professionals to advocate for their best interest and ensure their safety when their parents cannot. Currently there are about 4 million reports of child maltreatment in the United States due to increasing rates of poverty, homelessness, drug use, and young single mothers (Popple et al., 2019). Popple’s (2019) statistics show there were 567,000 children in out of home placements in 1999, in 2010 the number decreased to 397,000, and after a spike in 2015 there were 428,000 children placed outside of their home.
It can be argued that the foster care system is more detrimental to child development than child maltreatment. According to the text, placements in foster care are often not temporary and many children linger in the system more than five years (Popple et al., 2019). Family Preservation Services are an attempt to keep children in their home and provide their parents with services and support while they work to keep them safe (Family Preservation Services, n.d.). When an out of home placement cannot be avoided the goal is to reunify the child with their family while eliminating safety concerns.
The foster care system is rather complex because there are policies set in place regarding the child, the biological parents, and the caregivers. Federal policies are:
The Adoption and Safe Families Act
The Family First Prevention Services Act
The Interethnic Placement Act
Washington State Policies:
Health and Safety Visits with Children and Youth and Monthly Visits with Parents and Caregivers
Washington State Indian Child Welfare Act
Family Preservation Services. Child Welfare Information Gateway . (n.d.). https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/supporting/preservation/.
Popple, P. R., & Leighninger, L. (2019). The policy-based profession: An introduction to social welfare policy analysis for social workers (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
